


Boundaries (Or Lack Thereof)

by Baamon5evr



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Bisexual Steve Rogers, But he's trying, Coming Out, Emotionally Constipated Men, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Misunderstandings, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Tony Being Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 14:32:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14166954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baamon5evr/pseuds/Baamon5evr
Summary: Tony didn’t have boundaries, which is why he felt it was appropriate to have Happy drive him from New York to DC on a whim when Cap had taken to ignoring his phone calls.





	Boundaries (Or Lack Thereof)

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting on my computer for a while. Not sure why I didn't post it sooner but I'm cleaning out my old fics, so here, have some Stony friendship w/ a side of Samsteve and Pepperony.

Tony didn’t have boundaries.

It was a fact that was pretty well known among anyone who knew him, even in passing. Sure, he saw things that most people might not want to but it also opened him up to having more information than most people thought he did. Mostly, he just didn’t have boundaries though. Which is why he felt it was appropriate to have Happy drive him from New York to DC on a whim when Cap had taken to ignoring his phone calls.

“Please tell me you’re not on your way to Washington DC.” Pepper said in an exasperated tone on the other end of the phone.

“I’m just going to talk to him is all. Jeez, it’s like you don’t trust me.” Tony replied.

“That’s because I don’t.” 

“Ouch.”

“I’m sure Steve had a good reason to not answer your calls. He probably just wanted to avoid the headache it would cause.” She said as Tony motioned Happy to stay in the car once they pulled up to Steve’s apartment building.

“I’m already here so whatever reason he has I’ll hear it from the horse’s mouth.” He said, pressing the button for the elevator which surprisingly opened as soon as he pressed it.

“Say hi to him for me.” Pepper said after a moment of comfortable silence on Tony’s end and shuffling papers on hers.

“Sure thing.”

“And knock, don’t break into his place.” She reminded him.

“I’m not going to break in, that’s illegal. I have a key.”

“How did you get a key?” Tony scoffed at the question without verbalizing an answer.

“Does Steve know you have a key to his apartment?” She asked in a stern tone.

“…not completely, no.”

“How is opening his door with a key he didn’t give you any more legal than breaking down his door or picking the lock again?” She asked.

“If he moved into the Tower like I told him—” Tony started, stepping off the elevator onto Steve’s floor and making his way towards his apartment.

“So you could invade his space every day? And you wonder why he doesn’t answer your calls. Knock first, Tony. He might not be alone.”

“Come on, it’s Cap. He’s from the 40s. He’s probably saving himself for marriage.” He replied, taking out the key and pushing it into the lock. He pushed the door open and stopped immediately in the door, his jaw dropping open.

“Steve.” The man with Cap muttered urgently, looking at Tony startled. Steve turned around and stared at him with confusion.

“Tony? What the hell are you doing here?” Tony closed his mouth and swiftly turned back around, walking right back over to the elevator. It mercifully opened immediately again and he stepped on, leaning on to the back of the elevator for some kind of support.

It wasn’t the first time he’d walked in on two people having sex, probably wouldn’t be the last. It wasn’t even the first time he’d walked in on two men but the kicker was that this was Captain America and he was pressing some guy into a sofa, fucking him with no shame, right in front of the front door.

“I’m pregnant.” He suddenly heard. 

“Wait, what?” He asked, not realizing he still had the phone held to his ear and Pepper was still on the line.

“How to get Tony Stark’s attention: Lesson 1.” She explained. 

“Did you knock?” She asked.

“No.”

“Was he alone?”

“…no.”

“I told you. Go apologize.”

“He seemed pretty busy, I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“You sound weird. Is everything alright?” She asked.

“I’ll tell you when I get back. You won’t believe it.” He replied, walking back to the car where Happy was parked out front. He slipped into the back and connected the phone to the dock in the car.

“You alright, sir?” Happy asked.

“What’s wrong with him?” Pepper asked, her voice filling the car.

“He looks a little pale.”

“Yeah, well, I’m in shock.” Tony replied.

“Drive.” He ordered. Happy looked into the rear view in order to back up and… nothing happened.

“Happy.”

“I’m trying.” He pressed the gas to back up once more and nothing once more. Suddenly there was a knock on the windshield. The two men turned around to see Steve standing in front of the car, clad only in a pair of sweatpants with one hand holding the front of the car so they couldn’t drive away.

“Hi Cap.” Happy said casually as if it was an everyday occurrence, a man stopping a car from moving with his bare hands.

“Hi Happy. Nice to see you again.” He said to the man before looking over at Tony.

“Get out of the car.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Happy, open the door please.” Steve asked politely.

“Don’t you open that—”

“Happy, open it.” Pepper said at the same time of Tony’s protest. Happy unlocked the doors and Tony gave him a betrayed look.

“She’s the boss.” Happy said with a shrug. Steve opened the door and waved Tony out of the vehicle.

“Pep, if my body is found in a ravine somewhere, Cap did it.” He said.

“I’m so sorry, Steve. I told him to knock.”

“Not your fault his ears are for decoration.” Steve replied, nodding Tony out of the car once more.

“Talk to you later.” He told Pepper before hanging the phone up, grabbing it from the dock and exiting the car.

“Go to lunch, Happy.” Steve told the other man before dragging Tony inside the apartment.

“I’d rather you not touch me right now.” Tony groused as Steve pulled him up the stairs.

“Should I be offended?”

“Considering what you were just doing and how much this suit cost, I think understanding would be the better response.” Steve gave a look that clearly said he was the opposite before pushing him into his apartment and closing the door. The mystery man was nowhere to be seen but the image was seared into Tony’s mind as he glanced over to the armchair where they had been. Steve shook his head at Tony’s, no doubt, hilarious facial expression and dropped down onto the couch staring at Tony as he stood in the middle of the room trying not to touch anything. The two looked at each other silently, the clock on the wall ticking away as neither spoke.

“So who speaks first? You speak first, I speak first?” Steve said.

“Are you seriously using a Star Wars reference on me?” Steve shrugged with a smile playing on his lips.

“Is this funny to you?” Tony asked.

“Amusing, at the very least.” Tony squinted his eyes at him as if trying to figure out who the guy sitting across from him was.

“Hey, you broke into my apartment. Whatever you saw is your own fault and I have nothing to feel ashamed about.” Steve replied, taking Tony’s look of scrutiny as judgement.

“First of all, I didn’t break in. I have a key.”

“I didn’t give you a key.”

“Second of all, I think you owe me an explanation.”

“How’s that?”

“I’ve been calling you nonstop. You crash a few helicarriers into the Potomac and then hit me up for some info on your buddy who should be dead. Then, after you get what you want, you screen my calls.”

“I wasn’t screening your calls, I was busy.”

“Apparently.”

“Sam and I have been in a Russian tundra for the past week and before that we were in a South American rainforest with Nick. No cell reception. But I told Nat to take my calls so if anyone was screening you, she was.”

“Should I know who those people are?”

“Sam’s my boyfriend. Nick is Fury and Nat’s Romanoff.”

“Since when are you guys on a first-name basis? Thought it was a general team rule not to trust them.”

“Guess you don’t know as much about me as you thought.”

“Oh, I’m starting to get that. Boyfriend huh?”

“Yep.”

“When’d that become a thing?”

“Me and Sam or me and men in general?”

“Both.”

“Seven months ago and I was born this way.” Tony gave Steve a look at that but Steve gave him another angelic smile. He was enjoying watching Tony squirm way too much. Just then the bedroom door opened and the man in question, Sam apparently, walked out.

“Hey, I should get going.” He said, directing his words towards Steve.

“You sure? You don’t have to go.”

“I promised Leila I’d met her for lunch.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to you later?” Steve said, phrasing it as a question.

“I’ll call.” The other man replied. Steve leaned up and pressed a kiss to the other man’s lips. Sam spared Tony a pointed look before walking out of the apartment. Tony watched Steve watch the man leave, his eyes clearly zoning in on the other man’s ass.

“Seriously?”

“He’s my boyfriend, I’ve seen all of him.”

“You’re not the only one.” Steve’s general joking manner to everything swiftly left, being replaced by the serious demeanor Tony was more used to.

“I know and now that Sam is gone we can talk candidly about all of this.” Tony stared at him as he gave him a steely look. He tried not let it bother him that he didn’t see through Steve’s little act just now, that of course it wasn’t all okay but in a way that was better for him. They were at least on the same page then. He walked closer to him so he could stand directly in front of Steve.

“We’re talking candidly?” Tony asked.

“That’s what I said.”

“Good. I went to college when I was 14. Can you imagine? I did everything with everyone. Thank God for Rhodey or who even knows what I would have right now. So if this is a phase you’re going through, your version of an Amish walkabout, now is the time to say that and nip it in the bud.” Steve stared at him for a moment before responding.

“You somehow got a key to my place without my knowledge and came into my apartment without my permission, which is a problem in and of itself, but then again it’s you. Now you’re doing, what? Trying to make me feel bad because you found out something about me that doesn’t fit with all the preconceived notions you have?”

“I’m trying to understand.”

“Who says I need you to? You just need to accept it.”

“I don’t know if you think you’re still that kid from Brooklyn but if so, let me help you out here. This is the 21st century and you are a public figure whether you like or not. That means that the world wants every piece of you it can get and God forbid it’s something they can judge you for or use against you to discredit you, like, I don’t know finding out that Captain America is gay and has a secret Black boyfriend.”

“I’m not gay, I’m bisexual and if anyone has a problem with it I don’t care anymore.”

“You don’t get it, do you? I’m trying to protect you.”

“Is that what you’re doing? Funny, I thought you were just taking every opportunity you could to insult or offend me.” Steve trailed off into a humorless laugh then.

“The funny this is, other than Nat, you were the first person I was going to tell. Sam makes me feel happy and he makes me feel not so alone or misunderstood. I don’t know, I thought since you have that with Pepper, you would understand how I felt.” Tony deflated at that.

“Political correctness isn’t my thing, you know that.” Tony replied with a sigh before dropping down onto the seat beside Steve.

“I really am trying to protect you here. Just hear me out, okay?” Steve looked at him hesitantly before turning around and looking at him expectantly. 

“I’m used to the media circus, I grew up with it. Thor has the option of leaving the planet to avoid it. Banner spends most of his time locked away in the labs to block it all out. Who even knows Romanoff enough to attack her on her personal life? Same goes for Clint. You though? You’ve been such a straight arrow that they’ve been waiting for an opportunity to rip you to shreds. That’s what they’ll do. They’ll make you the subject of scrutiny for months and they’ll do the same thing to him. They’ll dig into his past and if he’s step so much as a toe out of line, they’ll blow it out of proportion. They’ll tell whatever story they want about you two, make you both whoever they want you to be. Whether it’s because of your sexuality or his race or both, you’ll have more enemies than friends. Your life will never be the same. That is what I’m trying to tell you. It hasn’t been coming out with the most sincerity but I really am trying to protect you from all of that.” Tony said, sighing when he was done and looking over at Steve as he took in all he had said.

“You’re right. I don’t consider myself a public figure but a lot of people do. That doesn’t mean that I should hide or stop being who I am because it might scare some people or make them upset. Sam’s not in the closet and I don’t want to be either. I love him and I’m not leaving him. And yeah, a lot of people won’t agree with us being together but there are also people who could be inspired and helped by someone like me coming out. Sam does that all the time. He worked at the VA before running off on this mission with me. And he ran his own seminars for LGBT veterans there. Plus, he’s a member of the DC chapter of the National Black Justice Coalition. I got no right to do any less than he’s been doing.” Tony stared at Steve and could see he wasn’t going to be swayed on this.

“You should probably talk to him about how this is going to go.”

“You’re lecturing me about boundaries?” Steve asked, his tone reverting back to joking.

“I know. I don’t know what you’ve done to me.” 

“I’ve talked to Sam about it before and he knows it won’t be easy but he thinks it will be for the best in the end.”

“I guess Pepper and I could get our PR team on it. We could handpick someone to interview you. It’d be best if you came out before announcing your relationship. That announcement could wait a little over a month, let people get as comfortable as they’re gonna get with the idea that Captain America likes men and then you two start making appearances. We’ll get another interview, try to get ahead of the story and have you two tell your sides as soon as possible. Let some outlets publish about it though, if it’s negative by that point won’t matter as much and we could use any positivity we can get.” Steve nodded as Tony hap hazardously outlined the bare bones of a plan.

“I’ll leave the finer details with you. Thank you, Tony.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Wait until we have a plan that’s worked.” Steve nodded again as Tony stood up.

“Well, I’m off to complain to Pepper about you mentally scarring me for life.”

“Should’ve knocked.”

“Yeah. Say hi to your boyfriend for me.”


End file.
